Solar scam accused rape case: CBI questions Congress leader K C Venugopal

Apart from Venugopal, former chief minister Oommen Chandy, Congress MPs Adoor Prakash, Hibi Eden, former Congress state minister A P Anil Kumar and BJP national vice-president A P Abdullakutty have also been accused of being involved in the scam.

The cases against the Congress leaders were registered over the last several years and investigated by the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police based on a complaint by the woman, an accused in the multi-crore solar panel scam when the United Democratic Front (UDF) government was in power, that she was sexually exploited by them in 2012.

The CBI which took over the probe from the state police in August 2021, examined the rooms at the hostel along with the complainant. The complainant allegedly cheated investors by promising solar solutions and shares in solar energy projects.

Based on the recommendation of a judicial commission, which probed the solar scam, the previous LDF government had allowed the police to register rape cases against the Congress leaders. Apart from the Congress leaders, Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani’s name had also cropped up in the scandal.

As the crime branch probe did not make any headway, the complainant in 2020 wrote a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that the case be handed over to the CBI. In her complaint to Vijayan, the woman had dropped the name of Mani, as his party had then moved to the LDF.

Subsequently, the previous CPI(M) government in January last year recommended a CBI probe into the case.

The CBI had already questioned other alleged accused leaders and examined the MLA hostel, the official residence of the CM, as part of the probe. However, so far, the case has not made any headway.